


New Beginnings

by mooonwaffle



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Also Young MA because Hennessy, Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Arthur is a bully, Arthur's practically in love with Merlin, BAMF Merlin, Bad Decisions, Bisexual Character, Boys Kissing, Developing Relationship, Drama, Drinking, Elyan and Gwen are twins, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Football | Soccer, Gwaine Being Gwaine, Gwen doesn't take anyone's shit, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Jealous Arthur, Jealousy, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Merlin is a Little Shit, Mordred is hitting on Merlin, Mr Hughes is an awesome man, New Year's Kiss, No Smut, One-Sided Attraction, Overprotective, Past Abuse, Past Relationship(s), Roommates, Sexual Confusion, Sexual Content, Smoking, Stereotypes, Therapy, WARNING: Past Implied/Referenced Suicide Attempt, You're in for a real treat, because why not, school fights
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-07-06 17:18:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15890541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mooonwaffle/pseuds/mooonwaffle
Summary: After Merlin's father becomes sick of him halfway through the school year, he sends him to a boarding school in the middle of nowhere.Pine Hill is practically ruled by its star football players and captain of the football team, Arthur Pendragon. He's that tall, strong, well-built, handsome jock that all the girls- and even guys, swoons over. He's the teacher's pet in most classes but every student's nightmare- well, unless you're popular that is.Merlin soon learns the ropes of his new school but when he starts a feud with the most powerful student at Pine Hill, will he be able to survive or will he be pulled down too far under?





	1. Cover and Claims

 I do not own any characters of Merlin. All rights to those go to BCC and any previous books or media on the Arthurian legend. 

I did, although, make this "wonderful" cover you're looking at right now as well as write this story. 

 **Warning!** I'm not a very great writer so if you get annoyed at poor writing, just click off now!


	2. Welcome to Pine Hill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter! I hope you can enjoy this and it's not super shitty.
> 
> Also, I don't really know how you smoke cigarettes (I'm a weed person, thanks). So if that's wrong, please tell me so I can fix it. I assume its similar to joints but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Chapter One-Welcome to Pine Hill 

 

 **MERLIN ROLLED DOWN HIS WINDOW** on his father’s used Honda and peered out as he watched their janky little car pass hundreds of tall trees on the thin dirt road. He let out a sigh and rested his elbow on the edge of the door, placing his chin on his palm.

“How long until we get there?” He finally asked after growing tired of looking at the same image of passing trees over and over again.

His father sighed and shook his head, “it says the estimated arrival time on my phone _right_ there, Merlin!" He snapped, clearly annoyed at his measly little question.

Merlin rolled his eyes and moved his gaze to the phone resting on the dashboard.

**5 minutes upon arrival.**

Merlin felt his heart skip a beat. In five minutes his life would most definitely change and hopefully for the better. He would start completely fresh at a whole new school, make some new friends, and try out some classes he’d never taken before. It did feel sort of weird to be starting a new school half-way through the year, but maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing. He would graduate in a semester and then be on his way to uni, away from his father.

It wasn’t that he hated Balinor, it was that Balinor hated him. He didn’t know what he did to cause this, it was just the way it was. When his mother passed away last summer, it was the most heartbreaking thing Merlin had ever been through. Since he wasn’t an adult yet, Balinor had to take him in and play “dad” until he could go off to university. Apparently, he’d grown sick of the boy after a summer and semester of school, so he sent him to Pine Hill, a boarding school in the absolute middle of no-fucking-where.

As if having a father who hated him wasn’t enough, he also had a father who loved to _show_ how much he hated him. It was never physical but verbal abuse hurt almost as much. Although, he did remember a few times when Balinor had slapped him and thrown him around a little bit. Once because he’d failed a test that couldn’t be retaken and he felt like he was paying for school for nothing! And the other time because he’d found Merlin and his best mate, Will snogging off in the bed.

So, in all, maybe his father sending him away to boarding school wasn’t such a bad thing. At least they didn’t have uniforms like his old school.

Merlin was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to realize they had arrived at Pine Hill. Luckily, as a reminder, his father flicked him in the forehead to get out.

“We’re here. Get your shit, get out,” he ordered his son before unlocking the door so he could get out.

Merlin rolled his eyes once again and climbed out of the car, making his way to the trunk. He pulled out his rolling bag, backpack and cardboard box of items for his dorm room and classes. He set the box down and closed the trunk. He picked it back up and walked up to the window on the driver’s side of the car.

“Thanks for being the best father a son could ask for. Love you, Balinor!” He exclaimed sarcastically.

“Watch your tone, boy! Your mother would have to rise from the dead and kill me to make me admit you’re my son.”

“Don’t you dare-”

“Don’t I dare what? No faggot is gonna tell me what to do!” Balinor yelled before taking his foot off the brake and accelerating away.

Merlin nearly laughed at how stupid and immature his so-called father could be. Only an idiot would speed out of a school parking lot.

The raven-haired man hiked up the heavy box in his arms and pulling his rolling bag down the pavement to the dormitory entrance. Before he could set his things down to open the door, something came flying his way, straight into his face. He fell to the ground and groaned in pain. He felt a warm substance drip from his nose- great! He was bleeding.

“Oh my gosh, are you alright?!” He heard a soft, eager voice shout. A moment later a beautiful, tall woman ran up to him and pulled him up to his feet, “are you okay?”

Merlin sniffled a little and touched the blood on his cupid's bow with a finger before staring at it and groaning to himself. He looked back up at the woman who was giving him a pitiful smile, “oh, yes. M’fine, thanks,” he smiled slightly, looking down at the ground to see the football that’d been punted at him. He bent down to pick it up and stared at it again for several seconds.

“I think that belongs to me. Thanks for… catching it,” someone scoffed from behind him. He turned back into the direction of the woman and looked behind her to see a tall, strong blond man with a jersey and a couple of other equally as buff men behind him. He looked down at the ball and back at the guy before him, quirking an eyebrow.

“Are you always this bad at punting footballs or is this just a bad day?” He snapped, chucking the ball at the man who, to Merlin’s displeasure, caught it a moment later.

“Well, seeing as another wimpy, dumb new kid has come to my school, I guess it’s a bad day. Thanks for ruining it, dipshit,” the man shot back, earning a couple laughs from the kids behind him.

“Your school? You seem awfully young and prattish to be headmaster.”

“I’m a student like everyone else. Except me and my teammates, we sort of rule this place. So listen up, newby, you got a problem, you’re gonna have to talk to me _and_ all of my friends about it,” he smirked, rolling up his sleeves to seem intimidating, which Merlin just thought to be cheesy, “I’m Arthur, by the way.”

Merlin scoffed and bent down to pick the box back up, “whatever,” he sighed and walked into the building before him, purposely bumping into the prat on his way. The girl followed, taking the rolling bag from his left hand to help, “thanks, but you don’t have to.”

“It’s quite alright. I’m surprised you don’t have anyone to help you already,” she sent him a slightly worried and surprised look, nearly slamming into a wall next to her because she wasn’t paying attention.

Merlin laughed slightly, then bit his lip realizing it might not be funny to her, “my father’s an arse and my best friend is back home so it’s just me. I do appreciate you helping me out, though,” he smiled slightly, “but I didn’t catch your name.”

“I’m Gwen,” she smiled, sticking out a hand for the man to shake. He looked around the boxes at it and chuckled, “that was stupid of me. You can’t with that gigantic box. What’s in there?”

“Books mostly, some school supplies, clothes, more books…”

Merlin took his chance to look up at Gwen and study her face. He hadn’t gotten the chance to do so and had been wondering what face matched her calm, soothing voice. Gwen was fairly tall with long tight brown curls, complementing her beautiful mocha skin tone and her necklace made of amber. She wore a dark green bag attached at the shoulders resting on a red shirt and just below that, black jeans and a worn-and-torn pair of green converse.

Gwen seemed like a sweet girl but she also had a look about her that told him if anyone messed with her, they wouldn’t get away with it.

Gwen smiled when she noticed Merlin looking at her, “you’re a bookworm then, huh?” she questioned and he shrugged in response, “and very indecisive. I swear, you’ve shrugged like ten times since we’ve met,” she laughed and they made their way to the elevator across the room. When they walked inside, Merlin told her to press floor three.

They rode up to his floor, mostly in silence because of a few other people in the elevator with them. The doors opened and he walked across the hall to his room. He set the box down, took out the key and unlocked the door.

The space was on the small side but large enough for liking. There were twin sized beds on either side of the room, a bookshelf a bit too tiny to Merlin’s displeasure. There was also a countertop with a sink, microwave and small stove top right beside a mini fridge. There was another room with nothing but a toilet and a sink. He was hoping there’d be a shower but apparently, they’d have to use public ones, something he was definitely not looking forward to.

Merlin noticed the space was already more than halfway filled with what he guessed were his roommate’s belongings.

“Do you know who you’re rooming with?” Gwen snapped him out of his thoughts from the kitchen, thinking to herself how much nicer her mini kitchen was compared to his.

“I have no idea. It says somewhere on the piles and piles of paperwork I have yet to fill out.”

Merlin walked to the bed with nothing near it and placed his things beside it. He opened the window above and looked down at the herds of students traveling about. The campus was fairly small, it only educated and housed two different years after all. There was one dormitory, the lower half housed the boys and the upper half, girls. It seemed a bit unfair to students who didn’t identify as either but it wasn’t Merlin’s problem to deal with so he wouldn’t concern himself.

He closed his eyes and breathed in the fresh, autumn air, forgetting where he was for a second.

“Oh, I forgot… this fell out of your pocket,” Gwen shyly walked closer to the man and held out her hand.

Merlin laughed lightly and blushed. He grabbed the lighter from her hands and put it back in his pocket.

“So, why do you have it?,” Gwen asked as-matter-a-factly because she obviously already knew. You could practically hear the grin in her cheery, motherly voice. He didn’t know her well enough yet but could guess she was the _protective_ type friend.

He thought about replying with a ‘ _none of your business_ ’ or to not say anything at all but both either seemed like a waste of breath or just plain rude. Instead, he felt around in his pocket and pulled out a box of cigarettes, tossing them onto the bed.

“So, I know you shrug a lot, you love books, you won’t put up with Arthur Pendragon, and you smoke but yet I still don’t know your name?” She laughed half-heartedly.

“Merlin. I know, I know, it’s a stupid name. Blame my mother.”

“Is she a hippie or something?” Gwen laughed slightly.

Merlin bit his lip and shook his head, feeling a little sad, “Nah,” he sighed to himself while reaching his hand out for the pack of cigarettes, “she’s wasn’t,” he whispered the last part to himself.

He popped a cigarette between his lips and flicked the lighter, bringing the flame to the object resting on his lips. He sucked in and turned his body, putting his head out the window to inhale and exhale. A puff of smoke left his mouth and slowly disappeared in the wind.

Gwen took that as a sign to not bother him again that day.


	3. What Doesn't Kill You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin get's on Arthur's bad side but he lets him know he can't be messed with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for violence.
> 
> I also really want to thank everyone for reading and commenting! It means so much :)

Chapter Two-What Doesn’t Kill You

 

 **MERLIN FELL ASLEEP** before he’d gotten the chance to meet his roommate. Maybe it was for the best, he hated introductions so maybe the guy already seeing him would help dissipate any awkwardness or anxiety in the air.

That night he dreamt of his mother coming back from the dead and how he had to keep her a secret from everyone and not let her be seen. It was like she was dead all over again. In the end, she was sent back to wherever she came from.

Merlin was fine. It wasn’t like he hadn’t had dreams like this before. They happened a lot and were sometimes good but more often bad.

He woke up to an alarm going off. Thankfully he remembered to set one because he'd most often forgot. He picked his phone up, blinking away the brightness whilst turning the alarm off. He looked to see a couple new text messages.

 

**Will **¯\\_(ツ)♡_/¯****

hey, how’s it going?

 

**Will **¯\\_(ツ)♡_/¯****

we miss you here, baby

Merlin sighed and pressed his thumb into his phone. He opened up the text and wrote back.

 

**Me**

Don’t call me that

 

It only took him a few seconds to reply.

 

**Will ¯\\_(ツ)♡_/¯**

that’s not what you were saying a couple weeks ago

 

**Me**

Well, Balinor’s an arse so he kinda ruined things for me.

 

**Will ¯\\_(ツ)♡_/¯**

don’t be salty, baby. he outta your life now, why do you still give a shit?

 

**Me**

We kissed once, get over yourself

 

**Will **¯\\_(ツ)♡_/¯****

didn’t know I was starving ‘till I tasted you, babe ;)

 

Merlin rolled his eyes and shut his phone off. Will was the type of guy to be incredibly blunt about his feelings. He didn't care if it was embarrassing for him or the other person, as long as he could flirt.

For the first time, Merlin looked over to see roommate sleeping. He couldn’t get a good look at him with his face pressed into the pillow but he looked around his age with dark, short hair. He was suddenly very curious as to what he looked like.

He thought about waking him up, maybe he had forgotten to set an alarm. But maybe he was always late to classes or able to get ready in a flash on school mornings. Merlin decided against it and pulled the covers off his body, stepping onto the dark carpet. He pulled out some clothes in his bag and headed to the washroom to get changed.

Merlin wasn’t stylish, per say, but he certainly gave a shit about what he wore. Today he had decided on plain black skinny jeans and a black and white long sleeve baseball tee. He adjusted his hair in the mirror and walked back to his luggage, pulling out a to-go porridge bowl for breakfast. When he quickly finished, he grabbed his bag and made it down the stairs out of the dorm building.

Finding his class wasn’t too hard. Unlike his old school, the numbering on the doors actually made sense. He walked into the already opened classroom and took a seat on one of the stools in front of the tables.

Slowly, students began piling in. He grimaced when he saw prat boy and part of his army walk through the door. He rolled his eyes and looked down at his phone.

“Great, who put me in a class with this idiot?” Arthur scoffed from beside him. Merlin looked up with a small annoyed smile.

“Actually, I think you might be in the wrong place. This is AP Chem, not a class for dumbasses like you,” he shot back.

“You want me to show you how hard a _dumbass_ can punch?”

“Go for it, I’d like to see you try.”

“Boys, boys, please,” shouted a voice from across the room. A teacher was shooting them looks. Arthur scoffed and walked back to his seat without another word.

The teacher, whose name he later found out was Ms. Cloud, took attendance and began the lesson.

Most of the stuff he already learned at his old school or taught himself online. They were reviewing a bit from the last year- which didn’t help Merlin at all since he hadn’t been at Pine Hill then. He didn’t even like chemistry, which was a huge problem since he’d be leaving for University after this. He actually didn’t know what he wanted to do at all. He was put into classes he was good at, even though they didn't really interest him.

When the class was about halfway through, a young man bursts through the door, slightly out of breath with a cheesy smile on his face. Ms. Cloud paused and turned to face the panting student, “Mr. Ellis, you’re late. And it’s only the third day of the second semester,” she narrowed her eyes disapprovingly.

“My apologies, Ms. Cloud. It won’t happen again,” the man apologized before walking across the room.

The boy had curly dark brown hair and wore a light blue short sleeve shirt- too short to wear in this weather. He had on some fitted, blue skinny jeans and worn out red converse. The curly man paused when he noticed Merlin.

“Am I in your seat? Sorry,” Merlin apologized quickly with a small blush. Hegan to get up from the stool but the man smiled and shook his head, his curls bouncing as he did.

“No, s’alright. You can have it,” he smiled, a little twinkle in his pale blue eyes, “I wish cute boys would steal my seats more often anyway,” he winked and took a seat in an empty chair behind him.

Merlin felt the tips of his ears warm up but he quickly returned to his work.

 

**\---**

 

When the bell rang for lunch after his second class, mathematical physics II. He headed straight to the canteen where he planned to buy something then return to his room to study alone. But after he bought himself some pasta, an apple and a bottle of chocolate soy milk, Gwen snatched his wrists and dragged him all the way across the room to a semi-full table of people, who he assumed were her friends.

“Everyone, this is Merlin. Merlin, this is my twin brother Elyan and my best mates, Morgana, Mordred and Lance. Good, glad you all met. Now list some cool things about yourselves. I know you’re gonna hate this, Merlin, but do it anyway. Elyan will start.”

“Whaaat?” The man who was a spitting image of his sister groaned before continuing, “I’m Elyan, obviously. Gwen is my twin sister in which I am a couple minutes younger than I’d like to admit. I like pizza, pasta, and bread- just carbs in general, I guess. Oh, and I run cross-country.”

Merlin nodded with a small smile and listened to the others’ responses.

“I’m Lance. I enjoy reading, meditating and long walks. I love experiencing different cultures and learning about world religions. My mother is my biggest inspiration and I love her,” the tall man smiled.

Merlin found that he liked them both so far. It was cool Lance was so open about his love for his mother. He felt the same about his.

“I’m Mordred, the one who’s seat you stole in AP Chem,” the curly haired boy smirked. Merlin let out a tiny chuckle, “I love music, my favourite colour is yellow, I love dogs and video games. That’s about all you need to know.”

“Hi, Merlin, I’m Morgana,” a beautiful woman with long black haired smiled. Merlin smiled back softly, “that dipshit over there, Arthur Pendragon is my brother, sadly… If he gives you any trouble, let me know. Anyway, I love dogs as well, I want to be a makeup artist and I really enjoy it here at Pine Hill... surprisingly."

Gwen smiled and turned to Merlin, “obviously you already know me. But I love scary movies, Halloween and I fancy both guys and girls- I hope you don’t have a problem with that,” Gwen bit her lip and grimaced.

“Oh, no. Of course, I don’t,” Merlin mumbled. Gwen gave him a look that insinuating for him introduce himself, “uhh,” he shrugged. He really didn’t have anything interesting about him… well, nothing he could share anyway. And this whole thing was giving him too much anxiety. Maybe he should just leave. But finally, he decided on, “I like music, I guess,” he added sheepishly.

Gwen rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm, "come on, there’s gotta be something interesting about you. Favourite movie?”

“Er, the Nightmare Before Christmas, I suppose…”

“Okay, _and,_ what else?”

Merlin sighed quietly to himself and shrugged, “I’m gonna go. See you later,” he muttered before turning around. He walked away from the table and the noisy canteen to the back side of the school, outside where it was almost completely vacant. He sat down, pulled out a pack and slid a cigarette out. Placing the end in his mouth, he lit it and sucked in. Breathing in shortly, he let out the smoke. He held his head back and placed it on the wall.

It was only about a year ago that he started smoking. He wasn’t addicted or anything. It usually took him about a month and a half (or even two) to get through one pack. It was just something that calmed him down. And they were way less time to consume than weed- which is the only reason he didn’t start smoking that. Who has the time to roll up every time they need to chill when you can just take out a pre-rolled stick of nicotine? Not that he was advertising it. No one should smoke in the first place but he wasn’t about to stop. It wasn't a problem if you didn't do it a lot... right?

His life really had no point anyway. He didn’t even want to be a chemist. They were just the classes he was set up with by his counsellor because he thrived the most in science and specifically chemistry. Don’t take it the wrong way, he wasn’t  _ super _ depressed and he probably wouldn’t go kill himself. He didn’t have anyone to care about him but it’s still a shitty thing to do.

Merlin took another puff from the cigarette, knocking out ash onto the cement ground. He took his pasta from off the ground and began to fill himself up with energy with the cigarette resting between his fingers.

“Didn’t take you as a smoker. But I should’ve guessed with the dark clothes and the _‘I don’t care’_ attitude,” Merlin looked up to see the woman from before. Morgana was it? “No offence or anything…”

“Oh, sorry,” Merlin mumbled and put out the cigarette in the cement, “I only do it when I’m stressed.”

Morgana rolled her eyes, “as all addicts say.”

“At least it’s not heroin,” he sighed, taking another bite of the pasta and a sip from the soy milk.

Morgana stared at him, looking him up and down, causing Merlin to look away, “you should come back and eat with us tomorrow. Gwen will kill me if you don’t. She’s the one who sent me.”

Merlin gave her a nod and she was on her way.

 

\---

 

_About three months ago_

 

Merlin walked home with head down looking at the ground beneath his feet. The chilly wind hit his neck, causing his hairs to stand up. He pulled his hood up and continued on his walk home.

It was four-thirty. An hour after school had gotten out. He was trying to avoid his ‘ _father’_ for as long as possible but the school shut down at four-twenty five, meaning he had to leave and go back to his home that didn’t feel like home anymore. It felt as though a stranger had come in and taken over. Everything about the place was different.

The food he liked wasn’t carried in the fridge anymore and the welcome mat was far too close to the door. The curtains were always closed and the lights always dimmed. Instead of books and canvases and paint lying around the place, it was clean and tidy, other than a few beer bottles and his father’s ashtrays. The TV was too loud and he didn’t put subtitles on. The talk radio was always on instead of the rock and pop stations and the heating was always too high.

 _Everything_ has changed.

Merlin picked up his pace, it was getting chillier the longer he was outside. He climbed the front porch and inserted his key into the doorknob. Before he could twist, the door swung open from the inside.

“I got a call from your school today,” Balinor crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, “you failed a test which means you’re currently failing that class.”

Merlin scoffed and squeezed his way in between the man and the side of the doorway. He dropped his school bag to the floor and went to the kitchen to fill up his water cup. Taking a sip, he sighed, “and why the fuck do you suddenly care?”

“Because your mother didn’t raise a fucking retard!”

“Don’t use that word!  It’s incredibly offensive,” Merlin began to raise his voice, “although, I guess you don’t know anything about ethics.”

“Watch how you talk to me, boy!” His father took a step closer, causing him to take a step back.

“Then fix your vocabulary. You’ve offended half the population using that word.”

“I will fix it when once you’re done studying, when you’ve completed your homework and retaken the goddamn test!”

Merlin rolled his eyes, “there are no retakes! I don’t give a shit about that class so no, I won’t be trying or doing shit for it!”

“I will not let you leave this house until you’ve completed everything you need to do _and_ talked to your teacher about letting you retake that quiz.”

“Watch me,” Merlin challenged him, turning around and beginning to walk out the door.

“I guess your mother _did_ raise a failure,” Balinor taunted, causing Merlin to turn around angrily.

“Don’t you fucking dare-”

His father grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and threw him to the ground. Merlin flew back a little and hit the wall. He groaned and picked himself back up again, holding his throbbing head, “is that all-”

 

_Slap._

 

His father’s hand collided with his cheek full force. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for another hit but when he opened them, Balinor was gone. He was back in the kitchen, pulling out a bottled water and heading into the living space.

“Do your fucking homework or face the consequences.”

Merlin made sure to complete his assignments after that.

 

**\---**

 

A school day ending meant two things: One, Merlin could finally relax, but two, he would have to take a shower. In the public. With other people. He tried telling himself it would be okay and he had to just get it over with but everytime he found himself thinking about it, he’d make up more and more excuses on why he shouldn't.

First of all, he didn’t _need_ a shower. He could totally stink up the whole building but he’d rather not. Second of all, what if something happened? He could very well slip or catch athlete's foot. No one wants that. But in the end, he would have to take a shower. In public. God he wished they’d just have their own private showers.

Merlin picked up a bag with his towel, clothes and soap inside. He slung it around his shoulder and stuck his feet in flip flops he planned to wear into the shower. Just as he was about turn to leave the room, there was a twist of the knob and a moment later Mordred walked through.

Merlin shot him a curious look, “uh, what are you doing here? How do you have a key?”

Mordred smirked and closed the door behind him, “I’m your roommate, dumbass.”

“What? Why didn’t you tell me?” He asked, completely baffled.

“I wanted you to figure it out. Finally, you did,” he chuckled softly, “where are you going?”

Merlin paused and shook his head, snapping himself out of his thoughts, “the showers. I hate that we have to use public ones.”

“You get used to it. No one really pays any mind to you. If they do, they’re gay.”

“That’s a broad statement,” Merlin chuckled, earning a silent shrug from Mordred. With that, he turned and left with his bag.

Merlin finally made it to the showers and to his luck, only five other people were there. He chose a good time. He travelled to the farthest shower where the fewest people were and turned the knob. When the shower started warming up, he stripped in his stall and climbed in.

It was painless, surprisingly. He expected _something_ to happen but nothing ever did. He turned the shower off, grabbed his towel, wrapped it around his body and stepped out. Merlin reached out to grab his bag when he noticed it wasn’t there. He was positive he’d placed it right on the bench in his stall. Where else could it be? He spent a few minutes looking under the bench and on the racks, he even poked his head out to see if he’d somehow left it in the locker room. But it was just _gone._

Did someone take it? Someone totally took his bag. He was gonna kill them!

“Hey, pipsqueak! Looking for something?” A voice taunted from the opposite side of the room. Merlin peeked his head out to see none other than Arthur Pendragon… holding _his_ gym bag!

“Arthur Pendragon, I swear to god-”

“What? You think you’re gonna hurt me with those noodle arms?”

Merlin angrily laughed to himself and clenched his fists, "why don’t you come here and find out,” Merlin seethed. This was not a good idea but it was too late.

Arthur chuckled loudly to himself and took taunting steps forward. As they grew louder, Merlin felt more and more anxious. He began deeply regretting his choice of words. Well, there was only one thing he could do now.

Merlin waited until he saw the man's feet under his stall before swinging the door open and hitting him in the head. His bag went flying and he caught it in his hands. He shut and locked the door and pulled out what he could for clothes. He threw on his briefs, jeans and barely tossed on a long sleeve T just as the door broke open.

“Did you really think you could hide forever?” Arthur scoffed, “that door really hurt like a bitch, by the way. That wasn’t very nice.”

“If your head wasn’t so far up our egotistical ass, you would see the world isn’t always so nice,” Merlin muttered right before Arthur’s fist collided with his jaw. Merlin groaned and moved his bruising jaw, spitting out a little blood from when his teeth clashed into his skin.

“Now _that…”_ he spat again, “ _that_ hurt,” Merlin leapt at the man bringing him to the ground. He pinned him there with his legs and took a swing at his face. He hit him straight in the chin and once more at the side of the face before Arthur pushed him off and kicked him to the ground. He kicked him in the shoulder, causing Merlin to yell out. He swiped Arthur’s leg as hard as he could, causing him to lose his footing and fall to the ground once more. They both picked themselves back up and caught their breaths.

“I didn’t take you as much of a fighter,” Arthur scoffed, “guess I was wrong.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Merlin yelled, driving his fist directly into his nose.

“Break it up, break it up!” Yelled a voice behind them. Merlin made the mistake of turning around. He saw a couple of security, teachers and students gathered around, running at them to stop or filming the fight.

Just then, he felt a pang at the back of his head. He turned around to see Arthur’s fist go down. Merlin saw red and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. He got in two more punches as security tried to pull him off. He tugged away, going in for a third swing before they finally tore him off. Arthur tried to escape their grasp but they held a tight grip on both of them.

They led them out of the shower rooms, which he could only assume was extremely annoying because he kept trying to break free. Merlin rolled his eyes at the students who had their phones out taking videos. Didn’t they know they could get in trouble for filming it too?

They brought him down the hall the office area and walked him into one of the farthest offices. He saw them take Arthur in one a few rooms away. The school security let him go but closed and stood by the door. Merlin looked up to see the headmaster. He was applying hand sanitizer and rubbing it into his hands. The smell hit his nose a minute later and he cringed.

“So, Merlin,” he spoke in a deep, serious voice. He sounded like some character straight out of one of those FBI shows, “first real day here at Pine Hill and you’ve already gotten in a fight.”

Merlin stayed silent and kept his head down. He began counting the lines on his bloody knuckles to distract him.

“Can you tell me what happened? This way I'll be able to determine your consequences accordingly,” Merlin looked to the side and let out a gust of breath, “otherwise you’ll be suspended for something you may not have done because Arthur’s story is the only one we’d have.”

“He took my clothes and insulted me so I knocked him in the head with my stall door and took back my clothes. Then he punched me, I punched him and we went at it,” Merlin shrugged, starting to get pissed again from talking about it.

“So you admit you started it?” The headmaster wrapped his fingers together, resting his chin on them.

“What? No! He was the one who started it. He took my bag!” Merlin leapt out of his chair. The man behind him rested a hand on his shoulder and he tugged away from it, taking a seat back down.

“He may have taken your gym bag but you instigated the physical aspect of this fight, did you no-

There was a knock at the door and a moment later it was opened, a young tall man walked through with a bag. Merlin gave him a look up and down and quirked an eyebrow.

“Ah, Merlin. This is one of our school nurses, Dr. Baker. He’s going to patch all up,” the headmaster smiled. Merlin turned back to the nurse who had taken a seat right beside him.

Dr. Baker took a small packet and tore it open. He dabbed a wet cloth on his lip, nose and cheek. Then he took another one and dabbed around his right eye and knuckles The man looked Merlin up and down, “may I see your shoulder?” He asked and Merlin nodded slowly. The nurse took his shoulder and gave it a small squeeze, causing Merlin to whimper slightly, “the other guy looked way worse. You did quite a number on him.”

“Vidor!” The headmaster snapped, causing _‘Vidor’_ to chuckle.

“So, nothing looks too bad. Your nose is broken, your shoulder is fine, probably just bruised. Your hands are obviously bruised but let me know if they get worse. Take these packets of arnica and spread on your shoulder whenever it feels sore. Take aspirin every so often but not more than three pills every four hours. We can take care of your nose after you lot finish what needs to be done here.”

Merlin nodded his thanks and Dr. Baker left the room so they could continue their conversation.


	4. Back to School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin recollects himself during a week of suspension and suffers his karma from Gwen. Mordred helps Merlin through it and has a very important question to ask him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shortish chapter :?

Chapter Three-Back to School

 

        **MERLIN AND ARTHUR** , the headmaster decided, were both suspended for a week. Merlin, on the other hand, was not only suspended but because he started the fight, he would have to tutor students three times a week for a month…. A whole month! Merlin already didn’t enjoy school and now he had to teach it!

Of course, Merlin and Arthur were both still allowed to eat in the canteen for breakfast, lunch and dinner but the only other place they could be was the library and their dorm rooms. And they were still given work by their teachers so they wouldn’t fall super behind and miss anything important.

Merlin received a cast from the nurse for his nose, which was simply a thick tape like item covering part of his nose. He was also given stitches for his eyebrow where a deep cut was made from Arthur’s ring and knuckles. Everything else, the doctor said, would heal very soon. And he’d only have to wear his  _ nose thing  _ for about week, perfect for his return to school.

The big question was did he regret it? Fighting and… basically beating the shit out of one of the most popular guys in school? Nope. Not one bit. It sent a message to the other students that he wouldn’t stand to be picked on. The only downside were the stares he received from other people. They looked at him like he was terrifying and that’s something he never wanted to happen. He wanted people to know that he’s not a bad person, not unless you mess with him. But he didn’t know how to convey this after the situation that went down.

Merlin didn’t bother going to the canteen. He didn’t want to show up with that stupid piece of tape on his nose and get misjudging looks from the students. So he picked up groceries from the mini-mart on the school’s property so he could cook in his dorm room. Tutoring didn’t start until the week he’d return so he really didn’t have to worry about seeing anyone at all, except for Mordred, his roommate. Who, by the way, got super upset when he found out he’d gotten into a fight.

“You what?!”

“I had my reasons. He’s an idiot and he deserved it,” Merlin had rolled his eyes and fallen back into his bed, closing his eyes shut.

“That doesn’t mean you pick a fight on your first day. Especially with Arthur Pendragon. He’s a football player for god’s sake!” Mordred shouted.

“Well, the nurse said he looked worse than me. And why do you care? I don’t even know you.”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt, that’s all,” Mordred shrugged a signature ‘ _ Merlin Shrug’. _

After that everything between them was normal… Whatever normal was.

The rest of Merlin’s week basically consisted of lots of ramen, Luther and Doctor Who binges, recreational smoking, Eggos and a tiny bit of Chemistry homework… he didn’t really fancy doing homework and why do it if you don’t enjoy it?

By the end of the week, his nose cast came off, his stitches were taken out and his suspension was over.

He woke up early to take a shower and conveniently went when football players were still in morning session. He did a quick wash, dried himself off and threw on some clothes before making his way towards the library to do some homework before class started. He’d decided to eat in his dorm again instead of heading to the canteen but continue onto a regular schedule and go there for every meal starting the next day.

Shortly after he finished one assignment, the bell rang. He gathered his things and walked to his first class. Mordred was already there, sitting in his rightful seat.

“Now you’re doing the stealing,” Merlin laughed as he walked up behind him. The curly haired boy turned around and smiled.

“You  _ have  _ been suspended for a week, Merlin,” he sassed before nodding over to the seat next to him, “the girl who sat next to you transferred out so you can sit there if you want.”

Merlin nodded and took a seat next to him. He looked down and noticed that Mordred was sketching something in his notebook. He rested his chin on his hand and moved a little closer to get a better look, “that’s really cool. Why’d you decide to draw a dragon?”

“It’s my friend’s birthday and she told me she wanted me to draw her something. She’s asexual and dragons represent asexuality. She’s very prideful about it. I don’t know why I’m drawing it...” Mordred look up from his paper and at Merlin, who was only a few inches away, admiring his work. Merlin turned his head and switched his gaze to Mordred. The curly haired man sent him a smile before returning to work.

The teacher from the front of the class then walked up to Merlin and tapped him on the shoulder, “if you and Mr. Pendragon cause this class any trouble, I will personally see to it that you get removed from AP Chemistry.”

Merlin’s eyes widened and he let out a soft, personal laugh, “okay, damn,” he whispered. Maybe he was enjoying the leverage of starting a fight.

“Excuse me?”

“Sorry, sorry,” Merlin muttered after receiving a punch in the arm from Mordred.

\---

Chemistry was as boring as a class could possibly be. The class was so uneventful that Merlin started doing his maths physics homework.

He and Mordred walked together to the canteen, a place he hadn’t set foot in since his first day. When they were about to get in line for their lunch, Gwen came up behind them and tapped Merlin on the shoulder. He turned around curiously to see who it was.

“As much as it pains me to say this, Merlin, I think it would be best if you didn’t join us at our table from now on. We talked and although we barely know you, we know enough to tell us that we can’t have someone as… impulsive as you sitting at our table. I’m sorry,” Gwen looked down at the ground. 

It was obvious how pained she was and how she seemed to be slightly scared. It wasn’t like he would lash out. Why was she so frightened?

“What the fuck, Gwen. Throw him with a ton of bricks, why don’t you?” Mordred defended him, feeling hurt for his friend.

“It’s alright, I understand. Thanks for telling me so nicely and please don’t feel bad, Gwen,” Merlin gave her a small smile, hiding the frown in his eyes. Gwen nodded sadly and stuttered like she was about to say something. But she turned on her heel and left with a sad walk instead.

Merlin made a swift turn and walked away from the line. He dodged the oncoming traffic and speed walked down the halls until he made it to the back of the school, outside. He slipped his school bag off and sank to the ground, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it up. He took a breath of smoke just as Mordred appeared from behind him.

Merlin blew out the smoke and leaned his head back, bringing the instrument back to his lips. Mordred rolled his eyes and dropped to his level, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth and putting it out on the cement.

“What are you doing?” Merlin exclaimed as smoke escape through his lips.

“If I’d known you smoked I wouldn’t have stood up for you,” he sighed as he took a seat.

“Sorry. I needed something to calm me down. I didn’t expect Gwen’s words to hurt so much, even if she was right. I don’t want her to think I’m some kind of impulsive monster.”

“You’re not an impulsive monster. You got into one fight, that doesn’t even make you a slightly bad person.”

Merlin sighed and looked over to Mordred. Smiling slightly, he mumbled a thanks. Mordred moved a little closer to Merlin and stared at the side of the face, admiring his features. There was a long silence that fell over them for several minutes while Mordred just kept staring at the side of his face. He sighed quietly before speaking up, “can I take you out on a date sometime, Merlin?”

Merlin’s eyes widened and he quickly turned his head to face Mordred, “w-what?” He couldn’t have actually that. It was a joke! How would anyone ever want to date  _ him?  _ He was soo… ugh. Mordred, on the other hand, was outright gorgeous and so far the sweetest person he’d met. Not to mention he looked incredibly straight. He was surprised he didn’t have a girlfriend! Or maybe he did and he was playing him...

Mordred laughed quietly and his lips curved into a smirk, “date, noun, in which two people socialize in a romantic manner in means of forming a relationsh-

“I know what a date means, smart ass,” Merlin rolled his eyes, yet another blush forming at the cheeks.

“Sorry, I’m being too forward. I just thought, you’re cute, hot, kind of badass, sensitive, have this whole goth thing going on. I should’ve known you probably don’t even swing the same way.”

“No, I just didn’t understand why you want to go on a date with me out of all people,” he frowned slightly, “but I-I’d like to, if you still want to,” Merlin picked his head up and gave Mordred a nervous look, “I think you’re a cool person.”

“Wow,” Mordred laughed, “cool? That’s it.”

“And hot, like really, really hot. And sweet and funny and smart. You have a few things going for you,” Merlin laughed, face flushed.

“Wow, I’m hot too. Get yourself a man who gives the best compliments.”

“Oh, bloody hell. Shut up,” Merlin looked away, holding back a grin. 

“Anyway, I’m taking you out for dinner tonight. It shouldn’t be too hard to pick you up, seeing as you’re my roommate.”

“Don’t we have a curfew?”

“Curfew for being off campus is eight-thirty. But if we’re late, it’s worth it. It’s not every day I get to take gorgeous boys out on dates.”

Merlin’s face drew a deep pink and he laughed quietly to himself, reminding him of some sort of flustered school-girl laugh, “I’m not goth, by the way.”

“Eh, you kind of are,” Mordred teased. He bumped Merlin in the shoulder and then stood up, “come on, let’s get some lunch before it’s all gone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh, sorry for all the dialogue ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	5. Strawberry Waffles and Oreo Milkshakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mordred takes Merlin out on a date with a nice ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, since I prewrite chapters long before I post them on here, and because I never post on here, I think I'm going to post on a schedule now so you guys don't have to wait random amounts of time in between chapters for me to publish the next one. I'm thinking I'll post every Monday. So be on the lookout.
> 
> This chapter is a lot of Merdred so for people who are only here for the Merthur, don't worry. Merthur starts to come in on the ninth chapter. Ish.
> 
> Also, sometimes I refer to Mordred as "curly boy" or "curly man". No, not "curly haired man". Like LITERALLY CURLY BOY CUZ I THINK ITS CUTE N STUFF idK, man. 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading my guys, gals and more! <3
> 
> -PC

Chapter Four-Strawberry Waffles and Oreo Milkshakes

 

        **MERLIN FINISHED UP**  his homework- some of it anyway, and began getting ready for his date. Damn, it felt weird to say that. He hadn’t ever been on a date before in his whole life. No one had ever fancied him like that, except Will. But Merlin didn’t feel the same way he felt. It was strange to him that Mordred actually wanted to take him out. He wasn’t exactly attractive or social like Mordred was. But, nonetheless, maybe they’d have a good time and develop… something. A relationship possibly? If not a romantic one, surely they would have a great friendship.

Merlin pulled out a nice, long-sleeved, grey collared shirt and his pair of black skinny jeans that weren’t ripped. He quickly got changed in the other room and was met with Mordred when he stepped back out.

“You look nice,” the curly boy smiled and straightened Merlin’s collar and he gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Merlin blushed and moved out of his way so he could get changed as well. A moment later, Mordred returned wearing a dark red, collared shirt and black jeans like his.

“So, where are we going exactly?” Merlin asked as the boy grabbed keys off his bedside. They walked out of their dorm and took the stairs down to the first level as Mordred explained.

“It’s a secret but you’ll love it… hopefully,” he sent Merlin a grin and pushed opened the big doors that led outside from the dorm building, “my car is across the lot, come on.”

Merlin followed him on the short walk. About a third of the way in, he felt something brush against his hand. He looked over at Mordred to see him wearing his signature smirk. His hand caught Merlin’s and he weaved their fingers together one by one. Obviously, this caused the raven-haired boy to blush very noticeably.

“God, you’re adorable,” he heard Mordred mumble right before he unlocked the car and got into the driver’s side. Merlin went on the left side and sat across from him.

“I didn’t know you had a car,” he spoke out loud as he buckled the seatbelt. 

“Yeah, I only use it when I need to go out to town. Which is where we’re going.”

The car ride wasn’t silent but no one was talking much either. Mordred had decided to plug his phone in and play some music about five minutes in. He had a great taste in his opinion; Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, Green Day; All the things Merlin liked to listen to. 

They rolled into town in about fifteen minutes and pulled up to a small building with a flashing green sign that said  _ open  _ and another one that read  _ best food on Earth. _ Mordred took his hand again and led him in through the front door. They were greeted by a host and taken to a booth in the back.

“So, what do you think so far?” Mordred asked, resting his chin on the palms of his hands.

Merlin took a look around and admired the scenery. It was a cute, small restaurant that seemed to have a very naturey theme. Pine trees were painted on the walls and the tables were green, chairs brown and the other accents various shades of those two colours, “cute, I like it,” he sent Mordred a small smile and then looked down at the menu, which also held the woodsy theme.

He was surprised at how many items they had for such a small place. It seemed like their speciality was breakfast all day. They had pancakes, waffles, morning buns, cinnamon rolls- god, he loved those, toast and eggs, bacon, orange juice, apple juice. But they also had a few non-breakfast items like chips, milkshakes- which the chips would go perfectly with, ice cream, salads and soups.

When Merlin looked back up from his menu, Mordred was staring at him, “what?” He mumbled.

Mordred smiled, “nothing. Just admiring my date,” he bit his bottom lip slightly and moved across the booth to Merlin’s side. What was he doing? Had he just decided he wanted to move over? Mordred sent him another smile and lifted his hand up. Merlin sucked in the air. The curly boy rested a hand on his cheek and leaned in. Merlin’s heart rate was speeding up so fast he thought he was going to have a heart attack. Just as Mordred’s breath hit his lips, they were interrupted by their waitress.

“Ahem,” she coughed and Merlin immediately pulled away, “sorry to be interrupting. Uh, are you ready to order or shall I come back later?”

Mordred paused and gave Merlin another kiss on the cheek instead. He turned to the waitress and smiled. Wow, he seemed to love smiling, “we’ll take two strawberry waffles and an Oreo milkshake with two straws please.”

Merlin sent him a disapproving look after the waitress wrote down their order and left, “really?”

“What? Everyone likes waffles and milkshakes, especially oreo milkshakes,” he grinned. Merlin shook his head and laughed, “you’ll love it, trust me.”

Merlin laughed and paused, his eyes drifted to the other boy's lips, “are you going to finish what you started or just leave me hanging?”

Mordred silently chose the later by moving over back to his side of the table, causing him to frown in response. He wanted him to kiss him.

“Tell me about yourself,” Mordred proposed, making Merlin grimace, “I know you don’t want to but we’re on a date so you have to. I should know more about you if we want to go on another one of these sometime.”

Merlin sighed a long sigh and leant his head against the wall to his right, looking out the small dark window. He didn’t have anything interesting to share about himself. His life was not only very boring a dull, but many parts of it were just plain depressing. There were parts that he didn’t even like to think about. 

After a long period of pausing, he finally let out another shallow breath and replied, “uh, I have no idea what I want to do or go to uni for. I’m not even sure I want to go to uni at all. They signed me up for all of the chemistry-related things and I hate that subject. I don’t really enjoy anything in school. I fear that once I graduate, I’ll just work for the rest of my life with no purpose.”

Mordred reached his hand across the table and Merlin, after an even longer pause, hesitantly took it. The tips of his ears reddened as the curly haired boy rubbed circles on his lower wrist.

“I think you’re a very intelligent person, Merlin and you’ll go far, even if you don’t know what you want to do. You’ll always have a purpose in life no matter what. I wouldn’t care if you dropped out of school to become the bassist of a reggae band. I wouldn’t care if you decided you wanted to become the prime minister. Or if you wanted to be an astronaut, a women’s rights activist or move to Canada to pursue your dream career in Canadian law. You’re Merlin no matter what. And I really, really like you.”

Merlin had to make sure he wouldn’t tear up after hearing all that. That was the sweetest thing anyone had ever said. God, what did he do to deserve this man? Not that he was his, not yet anyway.

“Thank you,” Merlin looked back at Mordred and sent him the most genuine smile.

“I think that’s the first time I’ve seen you actually smile. I wish I could see it more often,” Mordred pulled his hand away from Merlin’s, leaving the raven-haired man to feel emptier and his hand colder, “tell me about your family. Are they as gothic as you? Maybe you’re this century’s Adam’s Family.”

“Shut up, I’m  _ not  _ goth. You just haven’t seen me wear colour yet. I think you’ve just offended a whole subculture, by the way,” Merlin laughed. He earned a look from Mordred to continue, “um, well… my mother’s name is Hunith. She was really the only sensible person where I’m from. I wouldn’t be here without her. She could light up a room by just walking in... if she was in a good mood.

“Is she... gone?”

“Yeah, but that’s okay. It’s been a few months. I’ve had time,” Merlin shot him a small smile, “my father is the complete opposite, I’d rather not talk about him. And I don’t have any other family that I know about. Just my best mate, Will, I guess.”

“I’m sorry. I wish I could say I understand but I don’t.”

A wonderful smell of waffles filled the air and a moment later the waitress came back with two plates and a glass. The waitress smiled and set down the waffles on either side of the table. She put the Oreo milkshake in the middle and placed two unopened straws near it. They said their thanks and began to dig into their meals.

“This is fantastic,” Merlin gasped in astonishment and took another bite.

“That’s why I took you here, duh,” he laughed, “hey, I have a question. And obviously you don’t have to answer but it’s just something I noticed. Why-uh, why do you always wear long sleeves? Every time I see you, you’re wearing a shirt with long sleeves. I’m not suggesting anything, I’m just curious.”

Merlin nearly choked on his waffle, “I don’t know, it’s been chilly lately. Does it matter? I’ll wear a short-sleeve tomorrow if you want,” Mordred eyed him up and shrugged hesitantly, “I’ve talked about myself enough. It’s your turn. Uh, what’s your family like?”

“Well, I have two mums and I love them to death. My sister is incredibly annoying, she’s actually coming here to Pine Hill next year. Thank god I’ll have graduated by then. I mean, I love her and everything but she could go on and on about Harry Styles. He’s cute but not  _ that  _ cute.”

Merlin felt a tinge of jealousy when he called another man cute, which scared him. He didn’t want to be  _ that  _ date. And he didn’t want Mordred to be annoyed by him. But instead of brushing it off and saying something else, he replied with, “we’re only on our first date and you’re already leaving me for another guy.”

Mordred scrunched up his face and playfully kicked Merlin under the table. Merlin kicked him back with a small laugh.

As they continued eating their waffles and drinking their shared milkshake, they learned more about each other. Merlin could feel himself starting to fall for him. What wasn’t there to like? He’s incredibly adorable, funny as hell, a real flirt, way too hot and out of Merlin’s league and he fancied Merlin as well, at least from what he could tell.

Merlin looked across the table at the man with beautiful blue eyes and thick curls that complemented his gorgeous pale face. He liked him. He really did. The most surprising thing was that Mordred might actually feel the same.

He found some interesting things out about Mordred. He had three cats at home, Mocha, Chip and Bee. He used to run track and field and made it to his state championships in 2nd for males. His mother married his mum when he was nine years old and he was the  _ ‘flower girl _ ’ at the ceremony. Merlin thought this was absolutely adorable and tried his hardest to convince him to show pictures. He also found out that Mordred wanted to be a professor at some University for science and wanted to volunteer in soup kitchens and libraries on the side, something to help out in the community.

So far everything he said was making him like him even more. He really needed to get a grip.

When they were done with their meal, Mordred insisted on paying but Merlin made sure he’d leave the tip. Mordred took his hand once again and led him across the road to an open field. They walked across the plain and onto a large hill. Mordred pulled him down to the ground when they reached its peak. He pulled Merlin so close to his body that he could feel his chest move up and down as he took breaths in and out.

Mordred ran his thumb across the very bottom of Merlin’s wrist while his other arm stayed draped around his waist to keep him close.

“I’m cold,” Merlin whispered against the nape of Mordred’s neck. The taller man pulled him even closer if possible.

“Why’d you move to Pine Hill?” Mordred asked moments later.

Merlin sighed and moved his head so it was laying on the other man’s chest, “new beginnings, I suppose.”

“Yeah, but…  _ why?” _

Merlin paused for a few moments before answering, “my father didn’t want me near him anymore. He was kind of brought into this mess after my mother died. He took me in only because he still loves my mother. He got sick of me, sick of my grades, sick of me showing up drunk to school and sick of me kissing boys, and then just sent me here. But I’m glad. I like it here and I wouldn’t have ever met you,” Merlin looked up at Mordred and sent him a small smile.

Mordred pulled Merlin onto his body and his face close to his. He wrapped his fingers under his chin and pulled him closer. Merlin didn’t hesitate in allowing him to do so. The curly boy hesitated a second before their lips met. Did Merlin want this? Was it too soon?

Merlin wanted this god damn man to kiss him already. He’d been thinking about it since he left him hanging back at the diner. Merlin rolled his eyes with a grin and pressed his lips to Mordred’s. They were surprisingly warm for the temperature outside. It didn’t feel like sparks were flying like in books or cheesy romance movies. But the kiss made him feel like he was floating. He was happy and content. Mordred’s lips were like a slice of heaven, warm, sweet, soft- he was a damn good kisser too.

Mordred brought his hand to Merlin’s hip to keep him there. Merlin’s hands were placed on the sides of Mordred’s neck and his legs were sprawled on top of the man underneath him. They kissed for several minutes, every once in a while stopping to catch their breaths.

Mordred surprised the boy on top by pushing them up so they were sitting, Merlin straddling Mordred. They never broke the kiss. Merlin bit down on Mordred’s lip but he didn’t budge. He whined softly, more to himself but it was still heard and made the other boy chuckle. Mordred them bit down on Merlin’s bottom lip to which he instantly moaned and open his mouth, allowing Mordred to slip his tongue in. They explored each other’s mouths for a while before they broke apart for air. Merlin panted, a blush appearing on both his cheeks. Mordred smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss on the neck.

“We should get going back. It’s past curfew,” Merlin explained and began to climb out of Mordred’s lap. But Mordred quickly pulled him back in and placed another kiss on his lips before releasing him.

That man would really be the end on him.


	6. Hennessy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Merdred fluff and a little more information on Merlin's life before Pine Hill

Chapter Five-Hennessy

 

_ One month ago _

        **MERLIN PRESSED THE POPCORN** button on his microwave and impatiently waited for it to be done. Growing tired, he walked back into his room and took a seat on the bed next to Will in front of the telly. Will was setting up a movie they rented to go with the popcorn. He had chosen the Nightmare Before Christmas. Why? He didn’t know. It wasn’t Halloween and Christmas ended a week ago.

Merlin had completely forgotten about the popcorn until Will said, “do you smell something burning?”

Merlin jumped into the air and ran into the kitchen. He plopped open the microwave and pulled the semi burnt bag. Will came up behind him and started laughing.

“Shut up,” Merlin groaned and threw the bag away.

“You pressed the popcorn button, didn’t you?” Will deadpanned. Merlin paused and nodded hesitantly, “you’re not supposed to. It burns this way, dumbass.”

For the next hour they laughed, cried and yelled at the film whilst stuffing themselves with the  _ new  _ popcorn Will made. It was eleven fifty-eight, nearly twelve o’clock in the morning. But it was special because at twelve, it would be the new year. They had finished the popcorn nearly half an hour ago and were now silently watching the film.

“It’s nearly twelve,” Merlin mumbled, looking down at his phone. Will turned his head to look a Merlin.

“I suppose you’re right. Watching your best friend burn popcorn really passes the time,” he laughed, earning him a punch in the arm, “where’s the champaign?”

“I don’t have champaign but I do…” Merlin started as he jumped off his bed and went to his drawer. He pulled out a bottle and two shot glasses, setting them on the wooden table, “...have some hennessy.”

“Where’d you even get that?”

“I gave Balinor a twenty and he brought me this back from the store. The one time he does something nice for me and it’s not even moral,” Merlin quick checked his phone to see the time, “thirty seconds, Will.”

Merlin unscrewed the cap on the Hennessy and began to pour the liquid into each of the glasses. Will stood up and walked behind him just as he finished pouring the second glass. He handed him one and they clicked them together.

“Happy new year!” They shouted and chugged the glass dry. Merlin slammed his on the table and took a deep, sharp breath.

“Good stuff,” Will muttered, setting his down.

“I’m getting drunk tonight,” Merlin told him as he unscrewed the lid and poured himself another, “you want a second?”

Will nodded and grabbed his second shot of the day from Merlin. They threw the harsh liquid down their throats.

An hour, seven shots and a nearly empty bottle of Hennessy later, Will and Merlin were crashed out on his bed. Merlin popped out his pack and pulled out a cigarette. He placed it between his lips and Will took out his own lighter and lit it for him. The younger man sucked in, letting the smoke fill his lungs. He took it away, breathing in before letting the smoke out. He blew it around Will’s face before passing the cig to him.

Will took it and did the same, only this time, he shifted himself over Merlin and blew it directly into his face. 

Merlin snatched it from him and, after taking a puff, he kept the smoke in his lungs until his nose was nearly touching Will’s. He bit down on his friend’s bottom lip and let the smoke escape through his teeth.

Will smirked and pushed Merlin by his hips into the bed. He pressed his lips to his and Merlin eagerly kissed back as he blindly put the cigarette out on the wall behind him, tossing it to the side.

“Happy new years,” Will muttered between kisses. He took Merlin’s wrists and held them to the bed above his head as he grinded down.

Merlin tilted his head so Will could place kisses and hickeys down his neck. He moaned loudly and dragged his nails along the older boy’s back.

Will kissed back up to his lips and they made out for a little while longer, occasionally stopping for a breather. When Will had Merlin’s shirt almost completely off, they heard a loud thump. Merlin whipped his head around but Will told him to stop worrying and continued to kiss him. Merlin cautiously watched the door as WIll litered more kisses down his collarbone.

Then suddenly door slammed, rattling the pictures frames in Merlin’s room. The door had slammed against interior wall of his room. An an angry Balinor stood in the doorway with his arms crossed, “get the fuck out of my house!” He yelled at Will.

The brown haired man looked like he’d seen a demon, his father practically was one. He moved Merlin off of him, grabbed his coat and ran out the front door.

_ Fucking wimp. _

Merlin stood up and tried to get his shirt on. He managed just before Balinor threw him against the wall. His back hit his wooden drawer and clashed against the knob. Merlin tried to pick himself up again but his father grabbed his by the collar of his shirt and threw him against the side of his bed. He groaned in pain and held his injured elbow.

“Don’t you let me catch you kissing another boy ever,”  _ slap _ , “ever, again!”

With that, Balinor turned and left the room. It hurt to move but Merlin needed to get up. He needed to find something to numb the pain. He crawled to his drawer and took the bottle of hennessy off the top. He sat down on his bed and took a long, long swig.

He woke up the next morning with an enormous hangover and throbbing pain in his elbow.

_ Flashback over _

━━━━━━━━┓ ✠ ┏━━━━━━━━

Mordred sat at the edge of Merlin’s bed and smiled at how cute he looked. He pressed his lips to his and a moment later, Merlin’s eyes delicately flickered open.

“Mfph,” Merlin made an incoherent sound rubbed the sleep from his eyes, “you taste minty,” he mumbled.

“I just brushed my teeth,” he laughed, getting up from Merlin’s bed, “I suggest you get up now, seeing as we’re already late.”

“What?!” Merlin exclaimed, getting himself out of bed. He grabbed a change of clothes and ran to the other room. He quickly got dressed into some light grey trousers and a black short sleeve with a graphic of the Beatles. He threw on a heap of bracelets, checked his hair and walked back into the main room.

“Wow, you’re actually wearing a short sleeve and something other than black jeans?” Mordred laughed as he tied the laces on his converse.

Merlin rolled his eyes, “if you think I’m bad now, you should’ve seen me before. I mean, I had the iconic studded belt, eyeliner, snake bites, even black fingernail polish,” he admitted and blushed possibly the darkest blush he ever did blush. _(I’m imagining Colin Morgan on that one episode of Doctor Two were he’s totally gothic but SuCh a FriGgiN qt aggHhh!)._

Mordred laughed hysterically, causing Merlin to roll his eyes and frown slightly.

“No, no, Merlin,” Mordred wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close, “I think it’s adorable. And I wish you would’ve kept those snake bites, to be honest. I think it’s pretty hot,” he planted a kiss under his ear.

Merlin smiled softly and pulled away. He grabbed his school bag and Mordred followed, grabbing his. They left out the door together exactly twenty minutes after the final bell had rung.

Merlin got off with a warning from the teacher but Mordred received detention for being late three times that week.

AP Chem was boring as usual. And he had to deal with stupid Arthur Pendragon throwing balls of paper at him. He wanted to hop out of his seat and tell that idiot to square up but Mordred was holding his hand and occasionally brushing his thumb along his lower wrist to keep him calm. He was positive that if Mordred wasn’t there, they would have already started fighting… again.

Eventually, Arthur stopped throwing paper spheres at him and he was able to calm down and finish his work in class.

━━━━━━━━┓ ✠ ┏━━━━━━━━

By the time lunch came round, Merlin was freezing. He never wore short sleeves. Ever. Especially in February! Mordred met up with him at his physics class and then began to walk to lunch together. They took the backway where less students were.

“It’s so cold in this school. Don’t they have heating?” Merlin rubbed his arms up and down and let out a shaky breath.

“Only in some of the rooms. It’s a shame really,” Mordred looked down at the shivering man and paused, “here, take my hoodie,” they stopped in the middle of the hallway as Mordred fiddled with his shirt.

“No, no, no. Then you’ll be cold,” Merlin objected but Mordred pulled it over his head anyway. His undershirt came with it and Merlin blushed at his bare chest before it fell back down, “I’m not wearing that. It’s pink.”

“I thought you said you weren’t emo anymore. Take it. Colour doesn’t bite but I will if you don’t put it on,” Mordred shoved it into his arms and Merlin sighed heavily. He took it and slipped it onto his own body. It fell loosely around his torso and the arms.

Mordred smirked and lifted Merlin’s chin up with his thumb, “the most fucking adorable thing,” he breathed and pressed his mouth to Merlin’s.

Merlin immediately kissed back and melted into the warmth of his lips and hoodie. He wrapped his arms around his neck and allowed Mordred to pressed his body closer to his. 

His lips no longer tasted like mint but instead citrus. Maybe he had eaten an orange. Merlin licked his lips. Yep, definitely orange.

“No PDA in the halls, boys!”

Mordred and Merlin stopped locking lips and whipped their heads around to see the teacher who yelled at them walking away. It seemed like she could care less about them but instead of continuing what they were doing, they headed to the canteen. Merlin was starving and they wanted to some food before it was all gone

They went to the back of the line each grabbed a tray. Merlin bought a chickpea salad with some sort of dressing and a chocolate soya milk while Mordred took a few slices of pizza and a grape fizzy drink. They were going to take a seat by themselves outside but Gwen walked up to them before they could make an exit.

“Come to ban Merlin from your table again?” Mordred snapped overprotective with a slight roll of his eyes. Merlin shot him a look and he calmed down a bit.

“Actually, I wanted to apologize. We weren’t right to base you on something that happen your first day. I’m really sorry and I wanted to let you know that we would love to have you come back,” Gwen announce quickly all in one breath.

Merlin let out a sigh and looked at Mordred who simply shrugged. He didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t expected Gwen to ask him back. A second later Morgana came up from behind Gwen, a huge smile on her face.

“Please, please, please, please come back! We miss you, Merlin,” she whined and rested her chin on Gwen’s shoulder.

Merlin rolled his eyes, “okay, okay. Just stop making a big deal out of it,” Merlin sighed. Mordred asked him if he was sure he wanted to go back to the table. He wasn’t sure, obviously. But did he really have any other choice? Mordred wasn’t too keen on this whole thing but nonetheless, he followed Merlin.

They took a seat next to each other on the bench surrounding Gwen, Morgana, Elyan and Lance.

“Welcome back, Merlin,” Lance smiled politely as he dipped his spoon into his yoghurt parfait. He nodded at the tall man and awkwardly stared off into space, too conscious of everyone looking at him to do anything other than stare at a milk carton at the table closest to the kitchen.

A few moments later he felt Mordred slip his hand into the sleeve of his hoodie and grab his hand. Merlin laced their fingers together, sitting up straight. The warmth of the curly man’s hand comforted him and made him less aware of the people- strangers, around him. Well, maybe Gwen wasn’t a stranger but the rest of them were. He knew he should give them a chance but he didn’t think he really want to.

“There’s a party Wednesday night,” Gwen started, looking at both Merlin and Mordred, “in an abandon theatre house not too far away. They have it every year around this time to celebrate the new semester. There will be drinking and grinding of course but Lance and I usually try to avoid those areas,” she laughed.

Mordred turned to Merlin with a suggestive smile, “wanna go? It’ll be fun and they play good music; Not sappy Justin Bieber love songs.”

Merlin hesitated for a moment. It wasn’t that big crowds gave him anxiety, he just didn’t particularly fancy them. But there would be alcohol and god knows how much Merlin loves his alcohol. After a few moments of contemplating, he nodded, “will Arthur be there?”

“Probably. He attends anything with loud music and hot chicks.”

“My brother is a hormonal snake with short term memory and daddy issues,” Morgana snorted, causing Merlin to laugh a bit. Morgana gave him a smile and he nodded back, a small smile forming on his lips too. Maybe the prat’s sister would make a great friend after all.


	7. Mr. Jim Hughes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhh AhhHhh AHHHHHHHH
> 
>  
> 
> this is so late

Chapter Six-Mr. Jim Hughes

**MERLIN WAS EXPECTED** to be in the library after school three times a week! As part of his punishment for  _ ‘starting _ ’ the fight with that stupid Pendragon, he’d have to tutor students for a whole month! Hopefully, he was just being negative about this and it wouldn’t actually be so bad. It wasn’t the actual interaction with the students or the amount of work that made him not want to do it. It was the fact that it was eating away at all his personal time that he could be spending watching Doctor Who, kissing Mordred, smoking or anything else his heart wanted to do! But, hey, at least he still had four out of the seven days taken out for his free time.

Merlin made his way up to the library on the second floor and pushed open the doors. It was a heck of a lot warmer in the library so once he found himself a seat, he pulled off Mordred’s hoodie, he wore it a second time this week and it was basically already his own, and set it into his school bag. Merlin pulled out a few materials and waited patiently for his first students, Lance- he hoped it was his Lance. But who had the name  _ Lance  _ anyway?- and another one called Kara.

Merlin flipped open his maths physics textbook and looked at the unit the students were struggling most with. It looked like a fairly simple section, to him at least. He took out some paper and wrote some problems on them for the students to solve. Just as he was writing another, he heard the door open and a young woman walked through. She paused and looked around and when she spotted Merlin, she picked up her pace and made it to his table.

She cautiously moved across the table when she got close to Merlin.

“You’re going to need to sit closer than that if you want help with this,” Merlin told her. She nodded eagerly and picked another seat next to the raven haired man. He passed a paper to her and gave her a pencil, “solve those.”

The girl, Kara he thinks, looked shocked. She moved her gaze to the paper and stared at it like it was written in Martian. She picked her head up and sent Merlin a questioning look, “uh, I don’t know how to do these.”

“Okay, so, what don’t you understand?”

Kara explained to him that she didn’t understand anything on the sheet and hardly anything in the whole class.

Just then, the sound of the library door made Merlin look up. It was Mordred and he was walking over to the table, “hey,” he smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Lance is not feeling well so I told him I’d fill in for him. I know that doesn’t really do anything since you’re tutoring  _ him _ but mostly I just came to see you.”

Merlin smiled fondly and passed him a worksheet, “can you solve these, though?” He smirked and slid him a pencil. Mordred took it but before he began on the sheet, his eyes widened.

“I totally forgot! I suppose I should introduce you since I’m assuming you haven’t seen each other before. Kara, this is Merlin. Merlin, this is Kara, that friend I was drawing a dragon for.”

Kara blushed and looked down at her paper.

Merlin nodded at her, “nice to… meet you. You really are confused, aren’t you?” He asked with a slight chuckle. Her expression was unbelievable. She didn’t understand the problems whatsoever.

“Yeah, this is I guess why I signed up for tutoring,” she chuckled at herself.

Merlin moved closer and brought his own pencil to the paper, “okay, so. In this equation, you first have to find the atomic number for Lithium..."

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After twenty minutes of thorough explaining, Kara finally understood all of the problems on the sheet. He just hoped that she would remember everything after all that!

Kara left to grab a bottle of water from the canteen shortly after the twenty-minute lesson, leaving Mordred and Merlin all alone, except for the librarian and a few other students scattered around the library.

“You,” Mordred began, scooting his paper away from his reach, “make an excellent teacher… a hot one too,” he told his raven-haired friend.

Merlin smiled with a small blushed dusting his cheeks, “yeah?” He smirked and stood up from his chair. He took a step closer to Mordred so he was standing in front of him. Mordred’s eyes flickered up and down at Merlin and stood up as well. He grabbed Merlin’s hips and pushed him onto the table.

Mordred stepped between his legs and grabbed his chin, pulling his lips to his. Merlin kissed back, obviously, and the tips of his ears reddened, not yet used to the feeling of Mordred’s warm, soft lips against his. He wrapped his arms around the curly boy’s neck. Mordred could feel his bracelets touching the back of his beck but he could also feel his bare skin touching his skin every-so-often and sending chills down his body.

Mordred pulled him closer with one hand and the other resting on his upper thigh. He bit down on Merlin’s bottom lip and slipped his tongue in when he moaned in response, “I wish you still had a lip piercing,” he mumbled huskily, licking Merlin’s bottom lip.

“I still have them but for now you’ll have to just imagi-” Merlin began but was cut short by Mordred eagerly kissing, biting and licking his lips again. He took that as a sign to shut up and kissed him back.

He moaned softly against his lips. He could feel Mordred’s hand slowly rising on his thigh which made his hair stand up, in a good way.

Just when Mordred was going to make another move, a loud cough interrupted them. They stopped locking lips and turned to see the Headmaster standing to the side of them with a disappointed look on his face. He shook his head and shot Merlin a look.

“Do you do this with all the students you tutor, Merlin?”

“Only the cute ones,” Mordred answered cheekily before he could. Merlin sent him a glare but couldn’t stay mad for long and his lips curved into a small smile. He brushed his messing ‘ _ making out’ _ hair out of his face, causing his bracelets to fall for a second before he adjusted them back.

The headmaster narrowed his eyes at Merlin before continuing, “well, I was just coming to check up on you and to see if you actually followed through and came. Isn’t there another student that’s supposed to be here?”

Right as the Headmaster asked this as if on cue, Kara walked through the door with a fresh bottle of water in her hands. She paused when she saw the man of authority and waved slightly, “hi, Mr Hughes.”

 

The headmaster nodded at her with a warm smile before turning back to Merlin, “I expect you to continue your tutoring without any more distractions for the rest of the month. If not, there will be consequences, Mr Emrys,” his eyes landed on Mordred, who was still standing in front of Merlin, his focus almost completely on him, “as for you, Mordred, I expected more. You’ve been a student here for a while and you should know the rules. Now, back to work you three.”

Mr Hughes turned on his heel and walked back out the way he came from. Kara returned to her seat after sending a questioning look to Mordred because he had not yet moved from his position in front of Merlin.

━━━━━━━━┓ ✠ ┏━━━━━━━━

The headmaster passed back and forth in his office, waiting for the school counsellor to arrive. Where was that man?! No, of course, he was busy with other students and their needs have to come first. But this was  _ about _ a student!

He took a seat at his desk and spun the mini world globe resting on it around its axis. It was a gift from his daughter several Christmases ago when she was still only a child. He sighed and snatched the globe from his desk, shoving it away in the depths of a bottom drawer.

“Is something the matter, sir?” A voice interrupted his thoughts and he looked up to see his old friend, the school counsellor.

“Gaius, thank you for coming,” he smiled and got up from his seat. He walked to the front of his desk and leaned against it. Gaius took a seat a few meters away on another chair, “yes, something is the matter.”

“Is it your daughter? I thought you were seeing a therapis-

“No, no, not that. This has to do with a student of ours. Merlin, you may have heard about him. He started here at Pine Hill only two weeks ago and on his first day he got in a fight with Uther’s son.”

“Arthur Pendragon? I didn’t think it was possible someone could muster up the courage to bicker with him let alone get into a fight with him.”

“And you should’ve seen the boy. He’s a twig but managed to beat the hell- heck out of him,” Mr Hughes explained, slightly proud of the boy but mostly disappointed, “but this isn’t the point. I saw something today and I think there’s more to this student’s story.”

Gaius furrowed his eyebrows and clasped his hands together, “what did you see, Jim?”

Mr Hughes pressed his lips together and turned to look out the back window at the students walking around campus. They seemed so happy and content. He looked back at the counsellor and continued, “scars,” he nodded, “I saw scars on his wrists.”

“Scars? What type of scars, sir? And are you sure you saw them? It could’ve been a trick of the light.”

“No,” the headmaster shook his head indefinitely, “they were definitely scars. I know what they look like. Elise had the same exact ones when she was-” he caught himself and cleared his throat, “I don’t know what his are from, whether that be self-inflicted or abuse, but I would appreciate if you could talk to him. I can’t have any students attend Pine Hill without the support they need.”

“Of course, Jim. When shall I see to it?”

“As soon as possible,” the Headmaster turned his body and looked back out the window at the dark grey clouds and swaying trees that were foreshadowing a storm, “thank you, Gaius.”


	8. The Party Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin decides to go to the party.

Chapter Seven-The Party Part 1

**“CHUG, CHUG, CHUG, CHUG!”**

Students were yelling, hollering, laughing and smashing glasses onto the floor that barely had room to echo because of the blasting music. The music was so loud that the ground shook with the feet of sweaty teenagers dancing and hopping around all over the place. It seemed as though it would give away and break at any second and all the obnoxious, dancing teenagers would be too drunk and concussed to realize their arses had hit the basement floor from three meters high.

The smell of alcohol and weed hit Merlin’s nose when he first walked in. The first was more pleasing than the latter. When was the last time he’d even drank anything? Before he came to Pine Hill, obviously. It’d been far too long.

“I’ll get us some drinks,” Lance told their group and left for the table in the back. He came back a minute later with red cups filled with alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, “I completely guessed who likes alcohol and who doesn’t,” he chuckled, passing everyone a cup.

Merlin brought his to lips and smiled. Right choice, Lance. Unfortunately, the lad had only filled it up halfway and he was  _ not  _ a lightweight anymore. No, not even close.

“Let me guess, alcoholic for you?” Mordred smirked at Merlin. 

He rolled his eyes and tried to hide his grin.

“Merlin!” Gwen snagged him from their conservation and nodded over to a girl with long blond hair who was wearing all black, “well? What do you think?” She winked.

Merlin turned to Mordred so she couldn’t see him burst out laughing, “I think I’m pretty gay for a curly haired lad,” he whispered so only Mordred could hear. The curly man laughed and placed his hand on Merlin’s hip. Merlin smiled as he rubbed circles on his hip bone.

“Not my type, but thanks, Gwen,” Merlin smiled at her. She nodded and left with Lance.

Merlin scoped out the place. He saw a few people from his classes and it seemed like the whole school was there. It probably was. Mordred was right, they played good music; mostly rock and some more upbeat songs but none of it was trash. But it was extremely loud. Not as bad as he thought since you could still at least hear the person next to you if you got close enough.

Mordred, Elyan, Morgana and Merlin walked deeper into the room. It was a humongous space. What else would you expect from an old theatre house? They’re even seemed to be a second floor and an attic. There was a large overhang in the biggest room where more people were. And it was a no-brainer that people were fucking in the dressing rooms. Merlin spotted some of the footie team and guessed Arthur was around somewhere. He hoped they didn’t bump into each other. For once he wanted a drama free night.

He finished what was left in his cup. He planned to get more since he was nowhere near even a buzz, “I’m going to go get a refill,” he told Mordred. Before he could walk away, Mordred grabbed his arm.

“Come on, don’t get drunk. Hang out with me,” Mordred sent him a charming smile, causing an internal dilemma in Merlin’s mind. He wanted both. God knows how much he loves getting drunk but he also loved spending time with Mordred.

“I’m just getting one more,” Merlin smirked innocently and tugged away from the other boy’s hand. He walked to the makeshift bar, selected a bottle of tequila and poured his cup until it was full enough to his liking. Then he walked back over to Mordred. He squinted into the dimly lit room and made out what seemed to be a white-haired bloke talking to Mordred.

Merlin watched from afar as the two mingled like long lost soul mates, occasionally taking a sip of his tequila. He winced when the man laid a hand on Mordred’s shoulder and kept it there for a little too long. He rolled his eyes and turned around, walking out of the huge room and down a hall. Mordred said he wanted to hang out with him but apparently not as much as he thought.

Time flew by but the night went on. At ten pm the early rises began to flee and the music was turned up. There was more drunk yelling, more dancing, more fucking and more people getting high in the basement. By eleven the music lowered again and the drunks were beginning to pass out. They had gotten there at nine and somehow the party was still going.

Merlin was sitting by himself on an old, worn couch in a back room. There was a couple of other people but they were on the opposite side of the room, quietly talking and not bothering him. 

He had given up and staying sober for Mordred long ago and was now downing his seventh drink of… whatever the hell he was on now. He kept changing it up; first, it was beer, then it was tequila, some whiskey and he forgot after that. The people who through the party were originally charging but they gave up halfway through the night after people started taking things without paying, which he was thankful for. Getting drunk for free was one of his favourite things.

The raven-haired boy’s phone beeped and he hazily grabbed it from his pocket. He squinted at the name.

**Mordred**

Where are you, Merlin?

Pick up your phone

I’ve been looking all over for you

Merls, baby, where are you?

 

Merlin gasped and hiccuped right after. He’d been texting him this whole time and he didn’t even know it. He quickly typed his reply and hit send.

**Me**

Srry I dfint get yuour text umtil now

dO you forgave me IM SOSORRY MERDOD SO soooor

 

**Mordred**

Of course, you’re drunk.

Where are you?

 

**Me**

Idk

 

Merlin laughed and turned off his phone. He took a sip from his red cup and looked around the room. It was a beautiful room. So pretty. Pretty lights and books and chairs and nice people. 

The drunk boy tried to get off the sofa but ended up falling and landed on his side. He laughed it off and pulled himself back up and then walked to one of the lamps. It was so bright and glowy… so pretty. He reached his hand up and touched the light, caressing the bulb.

“Don’t stare at it that long or you’ll go blind, dumbass,” a sudden voice pulled Merlin out of his state and he turned to see a tall, bulky blond man standing at the doorway. The couple that was chilling in the room quickly packed up their things and darted out of the door beside him. Arthur laughed at them, menacingly whilst walking into the room and the light bulb seemed to flicker in fear.


End file.
